


The Promotion

by Vulcan_Princess



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 19:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1911129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vulcan_Princess/pseuds/Vulcan_Princess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of how Dee got promoted to Lieutenant.</p>
<p>Takes place during the missing year in Lay Down Your Burdens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Promotion

Lee walked through the corridors of _Galactica_ , wondering what he had been summoned for that couldn’t have taken place over the wireless. He knocked on his father’s hatch and heard from the other side, “Come in.”  
  
He walked in and said, “Hi Dad. You wanted to see me?”  
  
He looked up and saw a stern look on his father’s face. “Commander. Have a seat.”  
  
Lee sat down and waited to hear what was next. He had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like it.  
  
“Under Colonial Code of Military Justice section 18447, I am required to inform you that while this is an informal investigative conversation, anything you say can be used against you in formal disciplinary proceedings.”  
  
“Admiral?”  
  
“Are you engaged in a romantic and/or physical relationship with Petty Officer Dualla in violation of the Colonial Code of Military Conduct?”  
  
“What makes you think that?” Lee asked.  
  
“I’m the one asking the questions here.”  
  
“I’m exercising my Article 23 rights,” Lee responded.  
  
Bill replied, “Don’t bother trying to deny it. It’s all over the fleet. You’ve put me in an awkward position here. I could overlook Boomer and Tyrol’s relationship because Boomer was a junior officer and Tyrol is a senior NCO, so Boomer didn’t have much actual authority to abuse. But you command a battlestar, and Dualla is a junior NCO. You have to hold yourself to a higher standard of conduct.”  
  
“Permission to speak freely, Admiral?” Lee asked.  
  
“Go ahead.”  
  
“I never took advantage of Dee. She doesn’t report to me and has never reported to me. Not all of us can live like you – slaves to duty with no real personal feelings to speak of. It’s the end of the worlds. Put yourself in my shoes for a moment. How would you feel if the one woman in the entire universe you cared about more than all others was someone who some frakking rule written for a different time said you couldn’t be with because of your frakking jobs?”  
  
Bill’s mind flashed to red hair and impossibly long legs, to giving but not lending books. To dancing on Colonial Day. Conversations in the tent on Kobol. Miracle cures for cancer. Admiral pins and a chaste but intimate kiss on Colonial One.  
  
“I will contact you when I have completed my investigation. Dismissed.”  
  
Lee stood up and snapped off a sharp salute that looked prim and proper but had a subtle subtext of _frak you_. He then executed a crisp about face and marched out of his father’s quarters and back to the flight deck.

* * *

  
Petty Officer Dualla knocked on Admiral Adama’s hatch. From the other side of the door, she heard, “Come in.”  
  
She opened the hatch and walked inside. “You wanted to see me, Admiral?”  
  
Bill smiled and said, “Please have a seat, Dee.”  
  
Dee sat down. Bill continued, “You’ve been a valuable member of my crew for years. I know that CIC is a safer place with you monitoring communications. You can see things on DRADIS before anyone else. It has come to my attention that your counterpart on _Pegasus_ is an officer. There is no war college now that the colonies have fallen, but I have the authority to issue battlefield commissions.”  
  
Bill reached into his desk and slid a box across the desk. He said, “Congratulations, Lieutenant.”  
  
“Thank you, sir. I’m honored,” Dee replied.  
  
“Go see the quartermaster for a new uniform. Get settled into your new rack in the junior officers’ quarters. Then take this letter to _Pegasus_ and deliver it personally to Commander Adama,” Bill said.  
  
Dee stood up, saluted, and said, “Yes, sir.”

* * *

  
Dee knocked on Lee’s hatch. Lee called out, “Come in.”  
  
Dee walked in, and Lee turned around to greet her. He saw her new uniform and said, “Lieutenant? Congratulations, Dee! When did this happen?”  
  
“Just now. Your father promoted me because he thought it wasn’t fair that Lieutenant Hoshi does the same job on _Pegasus_ that I do on _Galactica_ but held a higher rank,” Dee said.  
  
“Wonderful! What brings you to _Pegasus_?”  
  
Dee handed Lee the envelope and said, “The Admiral asked me to give this to you.”  
  
Lee opened the envelope and saw a single piece of paper with his father’s handwriting on it.  
  
 _I’m a soft touch._  
 _You’re welcome._  
 _W.A._  
  
Lee smiled. Dee said, “What does it say?”  
  
“Sorry. Commander’s eyes only.”  
  
There was a pause and then Lee said, “When do you have to be back on _Galactica_?”  
  
“My shift ended five minutes ago, and I’m not on duty again until tomorrow morning,” Dee responded.  
  
Lee placed a kiss on Dee’s lips and said, “How would you feel about a private celebration of your promotion, Lieutenant?”  
  
“I would like that very much, Commander.”  



End file.
